With 300 km/h through Germany: from 2017, Deutsche Bahn’s high-speed ICE trains will run on new routes and Erfurt - the city at the heart of Germany - will be the hub. The journey to Berlin, for example, will only take two hours instead of the current two and a half. Trips to Frankfurt and Munich will be much faster too – at least an hour shorter. Halle and Leipzig, key cities in eastern Germany, will be virtually a ‘local trip’, with trains leaving hourly and travel times of only 30 to 45 minutes. The City of Erfurt and the State Development Corporation of Thuringia concluded an urban development contract in spring 2014 regarding the creation of the infrastructure necessary for the ICE rail hub, according to which the corporation will manage the project and build ICE-City-Erfurt. (td/maa)